Help! Flickering textures and artifacts with brand new 6600GT

[DK2]

I just got a brand new 6600GT AGP card (had a Radeon 9600pro), but I'm getting artifacts and flickering textures in just about every game. (It has happened in NFSU2, Half-Life 2 and other Source games, and the Age of Empires 3 demo.)

I downloaded the most recent drivers from the nVidia site.

I tried way underclocking it on both GPU and memory, but that doesn't help. It happens immediately, while the heatsink is still cool to the touch, which makes me think it can't be the GPU overheating.

Help? Thanks.

[Gentle]

Please look at the sticker on the power supply.

Tell us how many AMPS for the +12v.

Also, you may consider uninstalling and reinstalling the motherboard GART drivers for the AGP bus.

Gentle

[DK2]

Okay, it's

400W max
-12V / 0.8A Max
+12V / 25A Max

This was a cheapo supply I got a year and a half ago. It's never given me problems, but my previous Radeon card did not require extra power. Right now my only periphs are a DVD-ROM drive and the hard disk.

Unfortunately, I do not have another computer I can test the card with.

Also, my card is EVGA brand. It got superb reviews at NewEgg, but I guess it's always possible to get a dud.

Thanks.

[Gouhan]

How's the temp on the core?
Mabe the HS isn't making proper contact with the GPU. Take a look at the temps esp load temps. (try with hdrtbl)

[tenfour]

What should I use to monitor temps?

[gram_vaz]

flashing textures is normal. they're z-buffer errors. two textures are fighting on which should be visible. take a look at this video (http://home.comcast.net/~denverspictures/BF2-Shimmering1.m1v). if that's what your seeing that's z-buffer error and it's normal.

otherwise 6600gt on agp have been known to be troublesome probably due to the hsi bridge used.

[DK2]

It's not the same as what you showed in the video. I have lots of bright pink and neon green texels popping up all over the place.

Maybe it is the GPU temp, but I don't know how to monitor it. The heat sink gets a little warm after running rthdribl, but only mildly warm. Should it feel uncomfortably hot?

[Gouhan]

Use rivatuner to monitor the temps. On the 'Main" tab click the tab under the one that shows you your gfx card, then a sub menu should come up on the side. There you should find the "hardware monitor" tab which should alow you to check the temps assuming the temp monitor probe is available on your gfx card...

[gram_vaz]

i came across this thread just now. it may be of help. http://forums.nvidia.com/lofiversion/index.php?t1029.html

[tenfour]

Thanks for the help everyone. I'll check the temperature and go through some of those steps from that other message board when I get home.

So it's iffy whether a 400W max supply is adequate? I do have it Y'ed off from the hard disk and DVD drive power cables as well.

I'll try all these basic steps, but if it still doesn't work maybe I should just send it back.

[DK2]

While running rthdribl, the card gets up to 89 degrees and stays there. When I quit, it took about ten seconds to drop back down to 70. After a while, it sits at 60. Does that seem about right?

[DK2]

Well that other thread says temps in the 80s are okay by 90s are cause for concern. I don't really think heating is the problem, because the visual problems occur from the first second stuff loads up.

I'm thinking the problem is either my PSU or the card is defective. I'm trying to decide whether I should simply send the card back (I could live without it :) ) or try a new PSU. I've been thinking of replacing this one anyway because it is so loud, but I don't know if I could find a 500W one that's quieter.

Does anyone know Newegg's return policy? If I wait another week for a PSU shipment, will they still accept a return of a card that I will have now had for a week or more? It's opened electronics, so does that mean I can only exchange it for the same product? In that case, I may as well try a new PSU first.

[a12ctic]

my 6600GT runs at 49 idle and 53 load (bf2 /w cedega)

[DK2]

Ooh, maybe that is bad then. My place is really cold today, too. The heater's been turned down and the panel on my case is off.

[CaptNKILL]

The heatsink probably isnt fully contacting the GPU or maybe the fan stopped spinning. Either way, youll have to mess with it or have it replaced, and in both cases there very well could be permanent damage (which the warranty should cover since it came like that in the box).

[ViN86]

if its overheating due to poor contact with the heatsink, i wouldnt even bother messing with it tbh. i would just RMA it. if you try to mess with it yourself, they could say that you voided the warranty and youd be stuck with a dead card.

id try better airflow first. try to force some air in there and see if you can get it to cool down. if you can and the card cools down and no arti's, problem solved. if you still have arti's when its cool. try a new PSU. if you get arti's then, then its time to RMA. but dont mess with the card, or theyll try and blame the problems on you.

[DK2]

Yeah. I decided to order a PSU, since will probably need a new one anyway and the current one is super loud. If this doesn't work, I will just RMA.

Is Newegg pretty good about letting you return defective stuff? I mean, what if the replacement is also defective? Will they let me RMA a second time if the next one is also defective?

[gram_vaz]

tbh i wouldn't bother with another 6600gt. what if you have the same problems? many people have had issues with 6600gt cards. get a 6800. i also heard word of a 6800GS card that is as fast as a 6800gt but cheaper.

[DK2]

eh, I'm not willing to spend that much for games. And I don't want to pay a restocking fee. But if a second one doesn't work, I guess I'll have to.

[ViN86]

yes, the 6800 vanilla costs about $40-50 more than the 6600GT and performs nicely.

[Gentle]

By the way...

The AGP variant of the 6600GT runs hotter than the PCIe version of the 6600GT.

Why?

There's an extra chip there called the "HSI" chip. It converts the internal PCIe signal to an AGP one. This makes the card run hotter than a standard PCIe version.

AGP and PCIe temperatures cannot be compared because of this.

Gentle

[DK2]

Yeah, the temp might be okay, although it seems to be pushing it. I ordered a PSU now to see if it helps.

[DK2]

So, I finally got the new PSU and plugged it all in. Everything is fine til I install the drivers. Then the next time I start up, the screen goes black after the Windows XP scrolling bar screen. I can hear the normal Windows startup sound.

Safe mode makes it work again. I tried reinstalling the drivers twice, doing Driver Cleaner, and using the Omega Drivers instead. But every time, it's the black screen. I guess it's about time to give up, unless there's an obvious solution you guys know about. I'll just pay the restocking fee and forget about it.

[DK2]

Hmm, I plugged my Radeon back in and reinstalled its drivers, but the drivers don't do anything...it acts choppy as if drivers aren't installed and the ATI control panel doesn't appear in the Advanced Display Properties. Also, there are very few choices for screen resolution.

Did I screw up with Driver Cleaner? I followed their directions correctly, as far as I know.

edit: In Device Manager, my Radeon drivers appear under the Unknown category instead of where they belong. The same was happening with the Forceware drivers for the nVidia card before I gave up on it.

[DK2]

SOLVED!

I did end up doing a disk wipe because of my driver problem, but the card still didn't work after that.

I finally fixed it by switching Fast Writes off and changing to AGP 4x. On another forum someone said that VIA chipsets have issues with this card but that these BIOS settings might help.

Thanks, everyone.